Emerson Customer Service

After reading all the posts out here over and over I am convinced that you will not be happy until you receive an apology from Mr. Emerson that basically says.......

"Dear Lou,

We had a deal and I did not live up to my end of the bargain as discussed. I was still in the learning process of doing business and I failed you. It was not my intention to fail you....but I did. I WAS WRONG IN THIS SITUATION AND YOU WERE RIGHT. You feel that I did not respect you as a customer and I can see how you might feel this way given the situation.
Over the years I have learned that doing business in the public arena is a give and take process but in the end if I am going to survive then I have to give more to my customers than I take. If I take from my customers then I have to give them what they expect in return within reason and to the best of my ability. In our case that did not happen and for that I am truly sorry that you were wronged and that I did not do my personal best as a knifemaker and business owner to deliver what you expected.

You were given a refund but enclosed is a check for $475 additional dollars. Hopefully that will somehow ease your pain of feeling disrespected as one of my customers."



Now..........that may never come. Maybe there is more to this story than we all know because there is always two sides to every story. Sometimes it is simply a matter of perspective. I'm sure all knifemakers live and learn. They make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. Many of us admire what Mr. Emerson has done in knifemaking but he is not GOD. I'm sure he makes mistakes. He is a man just like you and I. How many mistakes have we made in our professional lives, home lives, families, etc? Some of us can sit down and draft a sincere apology and discuss our mistakes and many men just cannot bring themselves to do such a thing. Maybe his apology does not seem sincere but at the same time if he truly wronged you then inside he knows the truth and feels remorse over your transaction even if his apology is not sprinkled with sugar and little tiny tasty flowers. If it all went down like you say it did then let him live with what was done on his end. You have to live with what you have done and said on your end. The past is the past and hopefully everyone learned something valuable that will prevent them from repeating the same mistakes in the future. That's life. That's reality.
 
I've been keeping tabs on this thread but have yet to post on it...

As far as going to the BBB, I think Lou posting here is good because it gives us, the knife community as consumers, feedback into his dealings with Emerson.

I've been thinking about getting a Gentleman Jim, but ever since seeing this thread, I have been dissuaded. Not to say the quality of knives isn't good, but I would not want to put up with that kind of customer service should the need arise. 10 years to get a refund? Pretty bad.
 
Lou Castle said:
Wow STR it's almost as if you were there when Mr. Emerson and I were discussing the build! Lol.
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Yeah I don't mean to come off as if I know something. I don't but what I do know is that there are always three sides to every story. Yours, the other guys and then the truth of what really happened somewhere in between the two stories but since all we see are two of those three we have to piece together things to get a picture of the real goings on. Why would a man that never asks for money up front single you out to have to pay him in advance when others don't have to do that? Again, not pointing fingers but there must be some underlying reason for why this took place or how it took place to put you in a position where Ernie wanted it paid for first.

STR
 
swimmerdude1127 said:
I've been keeping tabs on this thread but have yet to post on it...

As far as going to the BBB, I think Lou posting here is good because it gives us, the knife community as consumers, feedback into his dealings with Emerson.

I've been thinking about getting a Gentleman Jim, but ever since seeing this thread, I have been dissuaded. Not to say the quality of knives isn't good, but I would not want to put up with that kind of customer service should the need arise. 10 years to get a refund? Pretty bad.
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I have personally purchased a Gentleman Jim DIRECTLY from Emerson's website. From the day I ordered it to the day it got here, it took a grand total of 1 week and the knife is perfect.

Not saying that my experience is a guarantee you wouldn't have problems, but Emerson is NOT definitely SUCH a risky place to do business, IMO...
 
I've read a few stories about how repairs for Emerson custom knives take 6+ months before you get it returned. I've never owned a custom so I don't know if that's true. However, I've sent in a couple Emerson productions and they were very friendly and it was less than a 2 week turnaround time. They didn't even charge return shipping.
 
legion681 said:
I have personally purchased a Gentleman Jim DIRECTLY from Emerson's website. From the day I ordered it to the day it got here, it took a grand total of 1 week and the knife is perfect.

Not saying that my experience is a guarantee you wouldn't have problems, but Emerson is NOT definitely SUCH a risky place to do business, IMO...
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I'm basing my decision not off the quality of the build or what the knife offers, but more of the (alleged) fact that Mr. Emerson NOT ONLY waited 10 years to provide a refund, but that he shirks accountability for his mistake, offering a response that is more like a "sorry... but". It's either you're sorry or you're not, always.

I just don't want to do business with a company that does that.
 
mongomondo said:
I've read a few stories about how repairs for Emerson custom knives take 6+ months before you get it returned. I've never owned a custom so I don't know if that's true. However, I've sent in a couple Emerson productions and they were very friendly and it was less than a 2 week turnaround time. They didn't even charge return shipping.
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Interesting. I thought their warranty terms stated to include 14$ for shipping, plus 5$ for sharpening.
 
Apec said:
Interesting. I thought their warranty terms stated to include 14$ for shipping, plus 5$ for sharpening.
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I did include it, they sent it back with cash intact. Though I didn't send it back for a sharpening, I had a problem with the lockbar. They fixed that, sharpened it, and returned it with no fee.
 
Bimmer1 said:
After reading all the posts out here over and over I am convinced that you will not be happy until you receive an apology from Mr. Emerson that basically says.......
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That would make me happy Bimmer1, but I've given up on Mr. Emerson ever accepting this much responsibility for his actions. BTW since the interest would still be compounding on the money he withheld, it would be around $800 now. But if he paid me $475 I'd not complain. I’m not holding my breath though. lol
 
STR said:
Yeah I don't mean to come off as if I know something.
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I should have put a disclaimer in my post. I wasn't being sarcastic, you hit the nail on the head.

STR said:
Why would a man that never asks for money up front single you out to have to pay him in advance when others don't have to do that? Again, not pointing fingers but there must be some underlying reason for why this took place or how it took place to put you in a position where Ernie wanted it paid for first.
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I can't say as I don't know and Mr. Emerson did not give me a reason. I don't know what he did with the rest of his customers at that time. In my years of dealing with both custom knife and gun makers I've come across people who don't want anything up front, people who want you to pay for exotic or unusual materials up front, and people who want to be paid in full, up front. Maybe Mr. Emerson thought I was a flake who could not afford the knife and that he'd be stuck with it. Maybe he took a personal dislike to me. Maybe I just rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps he was offended that I wanted to make changes to one of his basic designs. All just guesses.

Whatever it was, that's what he said, I wanted the knife and had no objections, and so I paid up front with a time payment plan that had the knife paid−in−full at the time that delivery had been promised.
 
mongomondo said:
I did include it, they sent it back with cash intact. Though I didn't send it back for a sharpening, I had a problem with the lockbar. They fixed that, sharpened it, and returned it with no fee.
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I've got two with severely depreciated lockbars. Some time I'll get around to sending those in and I'll see what they do about it.
 
swimmerdude1127 said:
I'm basing my decision not off the quality of the build or what the knife offers, but more of the (alleged) fact that Mr. Emerson NOT ONLY waited 10 years to provide a refund, but that he shirks accountability for his mistake, offering a response that is more like a "sorry... but". It's either you're sorry or you're not, always.

I just don't want to do business with a company that does that.
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Gotcha. I understand and respect that.

All I am saying is that I have had no problem whatsoever with my purchase of a Gentleman Jim, which was specifically the knife you mentioned. I thought I could add some first hand experience to what you were wanting to do, in hope it could help you.
That's all.
 
OK whether LOU got his money back or not should not be an issue here. If this was happening to you would you just blow it off. NO. Talk about patience.

Wrong is wrong and by LOU letting us know here what happened to him lets other potential buyers here know that they may or may not get a stellar customer service experience from Emerson knives.

Leaders set the standard. If the owner of the company can sit there look someone in the eye and say the "check is in the mail" then the customer service reps can do the same. The first time Mr Emerson was encountered and asked can you tell me where your knife is. If he doesn't know say so ...buck up. Correct me if I am but Mr. Emerson is former military.... if you have too much on your plate get a "TEAM" member to delegate the issue to.

I am not into buying Custom knives but I tinker with AR's and I only do business with companies that still seem to give "A handshake and a promise and stand by it". I am willing to spend a little more for it.

It is sad because now I have to lower my expectations. Is the company too big.. what else will be lacking in the future.

I sure hope not. I have 2 Emersons and have been happy with them. Was my goto folder and now I have to think twice. We will see

Thanks LOU for sharing your experience.
 
*sigh*

I feel sad for Mr. Emerson for viewing critisism on him and his business as "Emerson Bashing"
I think he'd never believe people who are telling the horror stories are merely stating facts. He's being way too defensive over his reputation that he could not see what is really going on.

For sake of this thread, what is the difference between Mr. Ernest Emerson and Mr. Brad Duncan? Honestly I don't see any. Wait, at least Brad delivered, and it took him less than 5 years. Mind you Brad Duncan was in some deep shit of his personal life while he tried and delivered, while Ernest Emerson was making hundreds of Emerson Custom knives for shows and other raffles, and was expanding his business.

I have no idea if you would read this or not Mr. Emerson, but if you do, i'd like to tell you that a successful business relies on customer satisfaction on the products and services the business provides. Customer satisfaction is the best parameter to measure how well you are doing. No customers are different from others, so please do not marginalize the customers that are not satisfied and focus only on the positive feedback or the lack of negative feedback and feel good about yourself.

as for the resolution, i do think Mr. Emerson owes Lou a sincere apology and the difference between how much a custom CQC7 goes for now and how much Lou paid back in the days, to say at least.

PJ
 
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Oh my god Lou, I'd hate to see what you're like when you have a real problem. I bet you're a guy who gets "disrespected" a lot. I'm right about that, aren't I? I mean you would probably call the fire department to put out your cigarette.
 
Neat-guy said:
Oh my god Lou, I'd hate to see what you're like when you have a real problem. I bet you're a guy who gets "disrespected" a lot. I'm right about that, aren't I? I mean you would probably call the fire department to put out your cigarette.
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Only 3 previous posts on BF and you all you can come up with for number 4 is this dribble.

I can only hope that someone takes your money and does not return it for more than a decade. :rolleyes:
 
A sad story and I can understand why you would be upset. Sadly, however, it is not unique. If you go to G,B&U you will see several other stories like this.

Bottom line: when ordering a custom knife, NEVER pay upfront. If the maker asks you to do so, just walk away and get something else.
 
Sorry this went down bro.
Mark is correct, NEVER pay upfront. I learned that lesson too.
 
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